Aviation View | Volume 1, Issue 2

75 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 and some of the nation’s most famous peaks. “Columbia Airport is the closest full-service airport to Yosemite,” Stuth notes. “Mariposa is actually closer but they don’t have as many of the services that we have, especially with respect to maintenance of aircraft in case you have a mechanical issue and something wrong happens and you need to stay a little bit longer. If you’re flying into Columbia Airport, you have that service available right there. And that’s a big decision factor for a lot of operators that are choosing whether or not to come to an airport: ‘Is that maintenance facility available’ or ‘if I fly to that airport and I have a mechanical issue on my aircraft, am I going to have to fly someone out there to fix it?’” Ensuring the general public is aware of all Columbia Airport has to offer can be a full-time job. Airport employees do their best but their partnership with the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau is key to reaching a broad audience. “Oh, we love the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau,” boasts Stuth. “They’re always willing to step in and help out and kind of push the airport out there in terms of advertisements and bringing people in. And always talking to the different hotels about offering special rates for pilots that fly in.” Area residents seem to understand the many benefits of having a convenient local airport. In seven years as airport director, Stuth has only received half a dozen calls about noise. The concerns were often coming from people who SAN FRANCISCO TUOLUMNE COUNTY YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK SACRAMENTO SONORA GROVELAND HETCH HETCHYRESERVOIR YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK * COLUMB I A A I RPORT